James Bond comics
James Bond's success after the start of the film franchise in 1962 spawned a number of comic books around the world. Initially, these were adaptations of various movies. In the late 1980s and continuing through to the mid-1990s, however, a series of original stories were also published. History Comic strips In 1957 the Daily Express, a newspaper owned by Lord Beaverbrook, approached Ian Fleming to adapt his stories into comic strips. Ian Fleming at the time was reluctant to allow this because he felt the strips would lack the quality of his writing and could potentially hurt his series while he was still authoring them. Regardless, Fleming later agreed and the first strip Casino Royale was published in 1958. Starting in 1958 and continuing to 1983, 007 appeared in 52 comic strips that were syndicated in British newspapers, 7 of which were published abroad. Writers included Anthony Hern, Henry Gammidge, Peter O'Donnell and Jim Lawrence and the series was illustrated initially by John McLusky and later Yaroslav Horak. Film adaptations The first James Bond comic book appeared in 1963 - an adaptation of the first Bond film Dr. No, written and illustrated by Norman J. Nodel. Originally published by Classics Illustrated in the United Kingdom, it was later reprinted in the United States by DC Comics as part of its Showcase anthology series. The next James Bond comic book didn't appear for nearly 20 years, when Marvel Comics published a two-issue adaptation of the 1981 film For Your Eyes Only (which was also published in a single-issue magazine edition and a paperback release). Marvel later adapted the 1983 film Octopussy in magazine format. In 1989 comic books featuring Bond began to appear on a semi-regular basis for a few years, starting with an adaptation of Licence to Kill published in 1989 by Eclipse Comics and illustrated by Mike Grell, which was published in both trade paperback and hardcover edition. Grell would go on to write the miniseries Permission to Die, the first James Bond comic book storyline not adapted from a previous work, which was published over a two-year period by Eclipse. During the long period of litigation between the James Bond films Licence to Kill and GoldenEye, the animated television spin-off James Bond Jr. had a limited 12 issue run with Marvel Comics spanning from January 1992 to December 1992. The first five stories were lifted directly from the TV series, but the other seven were original stories. The writers were Cal Hamilton and Dan Abnett, and the artists were Mario Capaldi, Colin Fawcett, Adolfo Buylla, and Bambos Georgioli. In 1995, Topps Comics obtained the rights to publish an adaptation of the new Bond film, GoldenEye, which was announced as a three-issue miniseries. The second issue of the miniseries was delayed due to concerns over the cover art for the issue, and ultimately Topps chose to discontinue publishing the adaptation, and also cancelled plans for an ongoing James Bond comic book series.http://commanderbond.net/cw.cgi?action=Story&SID=2744 Dark Horse Comics In 1992, Dark Horse Comics obtained the rights to produce James Bond comics and issued a number of miniseries and standalone stories, starting with Serpent's Tooth, up until 1995. One of these miniseries, A Silent Armageddon, was never completed. Semic Press Between 1965 and 1996 Swedish publisher by Semic Press produced the James Bond, Agent 007 comic book, which made extensive use of translated content licensed from the James Bond Daily Express newspaper strip, along with over forty original tales, movie tie-in comics, and several translated Dark Horse Comics. Young Bond A graphic novel adaptation of Charlie Higson's first Young Bond novel SilverFin was released in the UK on October 2, 2008. The book is illustrated by Kev Walker. Dynamite Entertainment In October 2014, Dynamite Entertainment acquired the license from Ian Fleming Publications to produce and publish a series of comic books concentrating on Fleming's literary hero in two different timelines. One will be a period piece, expanding on his days prior to the events of Casino Royale with original stories. The other, by Warren Ellis and Jason Masters with a contemporary setting, has been published as a monthly comic since November 2015. The first six-issue story arc was titled VARGR, and the forthcoming second arc will be titled Eidolon. According to senior editor Joseph Rybandt, a direct adaptation of Fleming's first Bond novel, Casino Royale is also in the works. English comics See also *James Bond comic strips References External links *Just Johnny's James Bond Comics Website Category:James Bond comics Category:Browse Category:James Bond media